Wireless communications devices, such as cellular phones, have become increasingly smaller with advances in electronic device technology. This reduction in size has complicated the placement of adequate antenna structures on these devices to provide proper wireless connectivity.
The integration of multiple radio functions into a single device, such as the incorporation of a Global Positioning Receiver (GPS) into a cellular phone, has resulted in further design difficulties. The antenna design problem of portable communications devices is often complicated by the use of metallic structures instead of plastic in the wireless communications device housing in order to decrease the physical volume of the device while maintaining structural strength, RF signal shielding, and electrostatic protection properties for the device. A common cellular phone design motif has a metal battery cover that extends over most of the phone's back. This large piece of metal causes poor GPS signal reception performance for most antennas, which are often mounted on the printed circuit board located in the main housing of wireless communications device. In addition to blockage by the metal battery door, a GPS antenna in this area is subject to the deleterious reception performance effects on the GPS antenna of the battery and the user's hand.
Therefore a need exists to overcome the problems with the prior art as discussed above.